A Study in Floral Prints

outfit details – dress: American Rag // blazer: Merona // glasses: Derek Cardigan // belt: ?? // shoes: Bass // purse: Coach // Sherlock necklace: Le Fancy Geek Boutique (buy here)

So, what have I been up to lately? Besides incessantly scrolling through indeed.com for job listings, I’m completely caught up with Sherlock despite the fact that it only premiered in the US last Sunday (huzzah for the interwebz! And ERMERGERD Benedict Cumberbatch ♡ Yowza). I’ve been in Sherlock mode for over a month — I re-watched series 1 & 2 after I scored both of them on DVD for under $19 thanks to the British TV sale Barnes & Noble had! But my attention is slightly shifting towards Downton Abbey since it just started here recently as well. I yelled at the TV (mainly at Mary and whatshisface) while watching the latest episode and I’m aching to know what’s going to happen next, but I’ve decided I’m not going to seek out the rest of the fourth series on the internet because if I do I will be immobile for hours and I won’t get anything done at all , and that’s obviously not kosher.

I’m starting to get back into reading for funsies and also to study the way other writers write since I’m stumped with my own writing (style, story structure, dialog, etc). Right now I’m in the middle of Vendela Vida’s novel And Now You Can Go. As I read it, it feels very invasive; as if I’m intruding on the narrator’s innermost thoughts. And I love it for that. I’ll do a little write up about the book once I’m done with it completely. If the author’s name sounds familiar, she co-wrote the screenplay for one of my favorite movies, Away We Go, with Dave Eggers.

A few days ago I dug through a box full of old school assignments and found a rough draft for one of the short stories I started working on during my last semester of school. There were also some pages of feedback from my fellow classmates. I drew inspiration from “Rabbit Fur Coat” by Jenny Lewis & the Watson Twins — the story is about a daughter’s lack of a relationship with her dysfunctional mother who is utterly obsessed with her rabbit fur coat. Reading it for the first time in years, I thought, “Hey, this isn’t bad. This is actually decent.” And then I wonder why I ever stopped writing at all. I started coming up with ideas for a third draft and took notes while I was at work the other day (it’s okay, I was just helping proctor exams!). 🙂

The outfit pictures in this post were taken a few weeks ago before my birthday in downtown downton Livermore. Caitlin and I drove down to visit our fellow nerd and Creative Writing homie Amanda where we feasted on Italian food (my pasta kept me full well into the night, which irritated me because I wanted to eat a burrito), checked out a comic book store, and talked about our lack of writing since graduating and being unable to find jobs to help us evolve into fully functioning adults. We also discussed how there’s a lack of literature containing stories about 20-something characters that find themselves in the same situation we’re in — educated, living at home, struggling with adulthood. All coming of age stories are found in the teen-fiction section. Where are the ones for adults? We talked about how we need to change this. We also talked about Tom Hiddleston and Benedict Cumberbatch a lot (for obvious reasons).

I think I may have worn this outfit a million times already, it’s basically one of my go-to’s for work and my Sherlock necklace looks quite dandy against the floral print of the dress. And check out my shoes! I scored these saddle shoes at the Bass outlet in Vacaville a couple months ago for $50. Every time I go there I always hope to find a pair, but they never ever have any in stock. So that made it a justifiable purchase, right? Right. Of course it did.

In case any of you are wondering how I’m doing with that New Years resolution where I don’t buy any new clothing items unless they’re under $7: I’m doing surprisingly well. The only thing is I’m finding myself buying more DVDs and books so I’m thinking I have to add those things in the resolution mix as well. *le sigh* 

Cheers,
Nina

PS: ♡